Winterzauber
by Northmelody
Summary: Marinette and her classmates are going on a class trip to Germany for a few days to visit the annual Christmas markets there. During the long bus journey, Adrien catches a conversation between Marinette and Alya about a certain cat boy…


They had been on this bus for at least two hours now and while Alya kept checking her blog until the internet connection worsened, Marinette stared out of the window; watching the passing trees and cars on the motorway.

"Who do you think is cooler?" Alya suddenly asked her best friend and ripped her out of her daydreams.

"Huh?" Marinette looked confused at the girl with the reddish brown hair, hipster glasses and bright smile.

"What?"

"Well, Ladybug or Chat Noir. Who is cooler?" she repeated her question and added explaining: "I want to start a poll on my blog with that question."

Marinette had a hard time fighting against the urge to grin considering that she, Marinette, is Ladybug. Alya didn't know that, of course. Nobody knew of her being Ladybug, except her little Kwami Tikki.

Adrien Agreste who sat, together with his best friend Nino, one seat row behind them, suddenly became very interested about their conversation. Nino had heard Alya's question, too, and laughed.

"Why, Ladybug is cooler of course!"

Alya turned around and faced the boy, who always wore a cap. "I think so, too! She is so super cool! What do you think about it, Adrien? Who do you think is cooler, Ladybug or Chat Noir?"

Adrien didn't hesitate. "Ladybug." he answered and smiled sweetly. Marinette looked back out of the window and couldn't prevent smiling when hearing this from Adrien's mouth. Although she knew that he had no idea that the girl who sat in front of him right now, was actually the real Ladybug, it did manage to make her happy.

"Marinette? Hey, I still need your answer." Alya grinned at her best friend.

"W-Well…umm…" A pair of six eyes were watching her, waiting for an answer from the shy girl with the black hair. Suddenly Marinette thought about Chat Noir and a couple of memories from their missions appeared in front of her inner eye. "…I'd say Chat Noir." she finally answered.

Alya looked quite surprised by that. "R-Really? I always thought you like Ladybug more?"

Marinette sighed. "Yeah…I don't know…it's just…" she spoke from the centre of her heart when she said explaining: "But Ladybug wouldn't be Ladybug without Chat Noir. Think about all the times he would've given his own life to protect her. I know he can be a dork and looks like he has a really big ego but … he's honest and loyal and sometimes I get the feeling that he is… I don't know… a little sad and lonely in his real life…"

This became a longer answer than she had expected it to be and Marinette did not have the slightest idea that her cheeks had changed their colour to a beautiful red while she was talking with this soft voice that normally gives away that one has a crush on someone. Adrien stared at her; was completely speechless. Nino raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"Sounds like you have a crush on Chat Noir, Marinette." he teased her but got silent very quickly when receiving a glare from Alya.

Secretly Marinette wished she hadn't said anything and cursed herself in thoughts while wondering why her heart was pounding so fast right now. Adrien didn't say anything at all during the whole bus journey and wore a puzzled expression on his face, while looking out of the window.

The hostel they'd be spending the next two days in, had been freshly renovated a year ago and looked quite lovely to the group of students. Marinette was staying in a room with Alya, Myléne and Juleka.  
The walls were coloured green and white and the beds had orange sheets.

"It looks sweet." Myléne said smiling, while unpacking her clothes.

Juleka mumbled quietly: "A little too colourful, if you ask me…"

"Well, it would be sweet if they had free Wi-Fi here." Alya groaned from desperation and crossed her arms. Marinette chuckled. "Don't be sad, it's only a few days."

"But what if there's a super cool Ladybug moment happening in Paris while I am not there and am unable to update it on my blog? That would be horrifying!" Her best friend sat down on the bed and lowered her head.

"I'm sure that won't happen." Marinette said comforting and stroke over Alya's back. Well, at least she prayed that no Akuma possession happened while she was gone…

As the girls later sat in the cafeteria and ate something, Alya noticed that Adrien was staring at Marinette.

"Uh…Marinette? Adrien's staring at you." she whispered into her best friend's ear with an excited smile on her face. Marinette lifted her head and her blue eyes met his green ones for a second, before he turned his head to Nino again. Strange…why was Adrien staring at her? He usually didn't do that. Nevertheless, it caused Marinette to blush heavily.

"I think he was impressed about your speech earlier." Alya explained.

"What speech?" Myléne asked curious, before taking another bite. Even Juleka looked very interested hearing about this.

Marinette laughed nervously and tried to prevent Alya from telling them what she said about Chat.  
But unfortunately, before Marinette could do anything to stop her best friend, Alya had already begun.

"Wow, Marinette. Sounds like you are starstruck." Juleka said in the end.

Myléne chuckled and winked significant at Marinette. "Sounds more like she has a crush on him."

Marinette couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was like a nightmare for her.

'I can't believe it. For ONCE I say something completely positive about this cat and they all think I'm falling for him!' the girl sighed deeply.

"I don't have a crush on Chat Noir." she stated and tried to sound as serious as possible.

Nino heard this and looked to the girl's table. "Are they still arguing about Chat Noir?"

Kim grinned. "Seems like Marinette really has a crush on him, look how red her face is while she's denying it."

Adrien picked at his food, trying to ignore the conversation as good as possible. "Just leave her be, if Marinette says she doesn't have a crush on him then she hasn't. Got it?"

The boy with the blond hair didn't even realize how testy his voice sounded. Nino, Kim and Ivan were very surprised about Adrien's reaction. Given that he was usually quite reserved. This, of course, made them speculate.

"…Adrien, do you have a crush on Marinette?" It was Ivan who asked it and it was Nathanaël who almost fell from his chair when hearing this question being addressed to Adrien. Suddenly almost everyone close to the table, where the boys were sitting, became silent as if they all eagerly awaited an answer.

"I don't think it should concern anyone, whom I am crushing on." Adrien replied bitter. But he wasn't directly negating it. Nino thought he misheard his best friend for a second. Before anyone could make other assumptions or ask questions related to Adrien's love life, he stood up with the words:

"I'm not hungry anymore…" and left the cafeteria.

Marinette only saw Adrien leaving the cafeteria alone and for a moment thought about going after him but didn't want to bother him in any way.

Back in their room, Alya had the idea to play truth or dare and kind of forced Marinette to join in. Juleka didn't want to and laid down on her bed, listening to some music and trying to find sleep.

"Okay, truth or dare?" Myléne asked Alya as the bottle pointed at the internet-junkie.

"Mmh… truth." Alya decided and awaited the question with an excited smile. Myléne didn't hesitate:

"How did you meet Ladybug for your latest interview?" She was referring to the interview from the theatre hall. Marinette remembered it as if it was yesterday. She glanced out of the window and saw that it started to snow.

"Well, there's not much to tell. Marinette said that there'd be a surprise, waiting in the theatre for me, and when I entered it Ladybug was there and offered me to interview her." Alya told Myléne truthful.

"I want to meet Ladybug, too, someday. Well, without being possessed, I mean." the girl with the dreadlocks smiled cute.

"I'm sure you'll meet here someday under different circumstances." Marinette assured her when Alya started to spin the bottle again. It stopped, pointing at Marinette. There was no way she'd pick truth.

"Truth or dare?" Alya asked her best friend.

"Dare."

Alya thought about a good thing for a second and then told Marinette what she should do. "Go outside of the hostel without a jacket and then jump up and down four times before coming back inside."

Marinette nodded, got up and left the room quickly. Since it was late, there was no one on the floor anymore and so Marinette thought she was all alone for herself. But there was someone she would've never expected to see outside. As soon as she had opened the door that led outside into the cold, her eyes met two green ones.

"A-Adrien?" Marinette stuttered startled. Her crush was standing right in front of her, wearing a green winter-jacket and a black scarf. He seemed as surprised as Marinette.

"Did you come outside to watch the snow, too?" he asked and smiled slightly.

"Well, uh, kind of…" Marinette rubbed her arms and had to admit that she maybe should've chosen truth over dare because it was freaking cold and she now had to jump four times in front of Adrien before being able to go back inside.

He chuckled. "You took dare, right?" he guessed correctly.

Marinette nodded. "I have to jump four times before going back inside." she explained to him. Her teeth were chattering. Although she loved winter, she wasn't made for the cold. Adrien carefully touched her arm and noticed how cold she was.

"You shouldn't have come out here without a jacket, you'll catch a cold….here." He took off his jacket and gave it to her. "You need it way more than I do."

For a moment, time seemed to stop. Marinette inhaled a scent of cinnamon coming from Adrien's jacket and felt the warmth his owner had left inside of it. She stared at her crush with red cheeks; completely overwhelmed by the butterflies in her stomach.

"I…thank you…" she mumbled fondly and flustered. Adrien looked deep into her eyes.

"You don't have to thank me, Marinette." The way he said her name. So soft, so warm, with this smile on his face that drew Marinette automatically a little closer to him. She forgot about this stupid 'truth or dare' thing. The only thing that counted was Adrien being here. He being here with her, alone, under the nightly sky with snowflakes slowly touching the ground. It felt like a scene from a fairy tale movie.

"You still have to do that 'dare' thing, don't you?" he smiled and brought her back to reality.

"O-Oh, that. I almost forgot." she chuckled flustered and cleared her throat. "But are you sure you aren't freezing now?"

Adrien raised an eyebrow and grinned slightly amused. "Cat's don't freeze, princess."

This was the moment Marinette's eyes widened and her body froze. "…what?"

Immediately after the words had escaped his mouth, he realized what a mistake he had done by saying them. "I…I mean…uh… Cat's don't freeze in winter because they have fur a-and…umm…Cat's are my favourite animals, by the way."

His mind went blank, leaving only one thought and heavy anxiety in his body. 'Shit, Marinette please don't figure it out…!' he secretly prayed.

"Y-You called me 'princess' …" Marinette's heart pounded so fast, that she was afraid he might hear it and her cheeks reminded him of freshly plucked tomatoes. Adrien didn't know what to respond.  
Yes. This was a very good question, a question that had followed him ever since he gave her this nickname in the first place. Why did he call her 'princess'? Didn't his heart only belong to Ladybug?  
What was going on with him? Why was he, Adrien, so confused about literally everything lately?

After nearly a minute had passed, he tried to gather some fitting words but was unable to form a proper sentence in the end. Marinette was confused. Did he like her now? What was this about? Or was it just a nickname that had come to his mind. Wait… She froze again. Didn't Chat Noir call her this once? What did these boys all have with their strange 'princess' nicknames? Was this a new trend?

"I-I'm sorry…" he finally said to kill off the silence and rubbed his neck. "I should really go inside now…" But Marinette didn't want him to leave…she wanted this moment to last forever. She wanted to hear this nickname again, hear him say her name and them being so close to each other as they were a few seconds ago. His hands had already touched the doorknob when Marinette found courage.

"Please…don't go." she said with a voice that reminded Adrien of someone special. He turned around again, looking at her with his beautiful green eyes as if he had hoped for her to say this. "I … enjoy your company very much." Marinette added and sweetly smiled at him. But this was not all that she wanted to say. There was something that sat like a heavy stone on her chest, craving to be finally released.

"A-Adrien…I would like to ask you something important…" her eyes gave away how important this question was for her and Adrien hoped and feared it simultaneously. Yet he smiled at her and encouraged her to continue.

Marinette took a deep breath and clenched her fists. "If…well…When we come home to Paris…would you…Adrien Agreste…would you…like to fetch a cup of coffee with me after school, o-or something?" Her hands were shaking as she lifted her head again and looked at him. Adrien blinked surprised.

"I-I know that it's just me, shy Marinette, but…I really like you, Adrien… and I would like to get to know you better." The longing desperation in her voice nearly killed him.

He thought about Ladybug and what Marinette earlier had said about Chat Noir. She had described him so well. How had she been able to sense his inner feelings throughout this mask? And by only being around him for such a short time? Something inside him screamed to say 'yes' but he also felt like this was a betrayal towards his unrequited love for Ladybug. Adrien was right now, more than ever, torn between two worlds, two identities.

Marinette had already given up hope for a positive answer when she suddenly heard Adrien say: "Yes. Yes I would really like to get some coffee with you, Marinette." She thought she misheard him at first.

"R-Really?" Her face lit up in the happiest way possible and Adrien saw that her eyes were teary.  
It made him smile and caused a warm feeling in his stomach.

He nodded fondly. "Yes. Absolutely." and quickly added "If you want to, I could get you my telephone number?"

She still couldn't believe that this was not a dream but reality. "…yes. That'd be great." Marinette looked at him with a dreamy expression, took her cell phone out of her pocket and he dictated his number to her.

When Marinette finally returned to the room, still wearing his jacket, her face was so red that the other girls feared she might have a fever.

"What took you so long and whose jacket is this..?" Alya asked confused but then put one and one together and started to nearly explode from happiness. "OH MY GOD REALLY MARINETTE?!"

Marinette nodded sheepishly and her best friend hugged her as tight as possible.

"This is amazing, Marinette! So amazing! Oh gosh, tell us everything! Really! I'm being serious here, everything!" her best friend demanded thrilled and started to jump up and down from her excitement.

But before Marinette could begin, she suddenly felt the vibration of her phone. Quickly she looked at her display and saw a new message from Adrien.

"What did he write to you?" Alya curiously looked over her best friends shoulder, together with Myléne. Marinette opened the new message and while reading, a soft smile spread on her face and her dreamy expression gave away how happy she was right now.

 _'Sleep well and dream sweetly, princess.'_

Alya and Myléne quickly read the words and blinked surprised, because they had never considered Adrien giving somebody this kind of nickname.

"This is so cute!" Myléne squeaked joyful.

From all this noise her roommates made, Juleka nearly woke up. And as the girls noticed that they were too loud, (and after taking a look at the clock) they decided it was the best to go to bed now. Tomorrow was going to be a long day and they all needed energy.

While Myléne quickly found sleep, Alya and Marinette continued talking quietly about what had happened today for a few minutes.

"I'm so proud of you, finding the courage to ask him out. You really deserve to be lucky, my dear." Alya said and yawned tired. "We'll continue talking about it tomorrow, okay?"

Marinette nodded smiling. "Yes, yes we do. Go to sleep now, Alya. You need it."

Two seconds after Alya had put her head on the pillow she was already fast asleep. After checking that nobody would notice her, Marinette pulled her bag next to her bed and opened it. Releasing her Kwami Tikki.

"Hey, are you okay in there?" she asked her small friend worried. But Tikki simply smiled.

"Everything's fine, Marinette." the Kwami answered whispering. "As long as I have cookies I'm fine. I heard about you and Adrien. Oh Marinette, you are so cute and I'm so happy for you!"

Marinette's eyes teared up a bit. "I'm feeling like all of this is a dream and I fear of waking up from it."

Tikki shook her head. "This is no dream Marinette, should I pinch you?" she winked.

"N-No, not necessary." Marinette chuckled. "I'm just wondering about one thing…"

"And what is that?"

"Why do boys nowadays call girls _'princess'_ like is this some sort of trend now?"

Tikki raised one of her tiny eyebrows. "I only heard one boy calling you 'princess' and that was Chat Noir." she answered. "Did Adrien call you this, too?"

Marinette nodded sleepy. "Yes" she yawned. "He said that cat's don't freeze because they have fur and called me 'princess'…"

Tikki's eyes opened wide. "Could…Couldn't it…Couldn't it be that …Adrien is-…"

But as she turned to Marinette again, she saw that the young girl had closed her eyes and had fallen asleep with a happy smile on her lips.

The Kwami snuggled up against Marinette's cheek.

"Oh, Marinette…" she whispered, more to herself than really to Marinette and closed her eyes, too.

 _"…don't worry. You will find it out eventually…"_


End file.
